9:12pm: After several days of talks, the Heat asked the Wolves for a response to their latest trade offer today, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Minnesota has been dealing primarily with Miami and has had only a few “sparse” conversations with other teams, Woj adds.
Thibodeau is hoping Butler will rejoin the team for the start of the regular season if he hasn’t been traded. Butler hasn’t decided when he might return to the Wolves, but won’t miss regular season games if his wrist has healed enough to let him play (Twitter link).
7:40pm: The Heat made “significant progress” toward a deal involving Jimmy Butler this week before the Timberwolves proposed changes and talks broke down, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. The teams have been discussing a deal with an unidentified third club involved (Twitter link).
Miami is believed to be Butler’s preferred destination, which might help Minnesota get a better offer. The Heat are more likely than other teams to part with a significant trade package, knowing their chances are good to re-sign Butler if he opts out of his contract next summer.
Miami has reportedly been aggressively trying to acquire Butler since he issued a trade request to Wolves management last month. However, the Heat have been reluctant to part with Josh Richardson or Bam Adebayo and would prefer a deal focused around Justise Winslow, Goran Dragic or Hassan Whiteside.
The Rockets, Bucks and Clippers all remain contenders, but Minnesota has found the offers to be limited, according to Darren Wolfson of ESPN Radio 1500. Houston would part with Eric Gordon or P.J. Tucker; Milwaukee is offering Malcolm Brogdon and Eric Bledsoe, but not Khris Middleton; and Wolfson said L.A. remains “very, very interested.”
Butler has been absent from training camp as he waits for trade negotiations to be worked out. Wolves coach/executive Tom Thibodeau and GM Scott Layden reportedly resisted the idea of dealing Butler at first, but owner Glen Taylor wants it done as soon as possible. Minnesota’s regular season opener is two weeks from tonight.
I guess the TWolves asked for 2001 Shaquille O’Neal and 2013 LeBron James in return and then things just fell apart.
As a Heat fan, I’ve given up hope in acquiring him. Both sides seem to be playing hard ball and if they can’t acquire him, so be it.
Agreed. If Thibodeau wants to be salty Butler is leaving, let him be. Dont have to give in, and as time goes by, their options will diminish. I also wouldnt mind seeing what this team can do if they can finally stay healthy, and then they’ll have a bunch of expiring salary to deal from next year
What they’ll do is implode. It won’t be pretty or positive. Tibs is gone before the season ends unless the trade is made. THIS WILL NOT END WELL..
I was talking from heat perspective
Not sure why New Orleans doesn’t get involved. Butler and Davis seems like a good fit.
Butler wants absolutely no part of the New Orleans Pelicans. Going absolutely nowhere.
Shoooot. Holiday and Butler would be the best defensive backcourt in the league – and it wouldn’t be close. That with AD in the middle? New Orleans would be scary.
The question is, other than Holiday, what could they possibly give?
The Heat are willing to take Gourgi Dieng, but You Tube says Thibs won’t take Hassan Whiteside. I think that leaves Sacramento to take Dieng. Talks probably stalled because Riley still won’t include Richardson or Adebayo. That would leave Dragic, but Minnesota would have to offload Teague. As of now, it looks like Winslow will be included.
They are now saying Houston is last in the bidding (Google Jimmy Butler trade), but P.J. Tucker and Eric Gordon would work cap wise.
Says Milwaukee won’t trade Khris Middleton, but would Eric Bledsoe or Malcolm Brogdan, but like Dragic one of Minnesota’s guards would have to go. Milwaukee isn’t likely to re sign Butler since he wants a big market.
The Clippers may be out because Minnesota can’t afford Wiggins, Towns, and Harris.
Marc Stein said the Heat and Timberwolves had a deal done earlier in the week, but then the Wolves asked for more. Said Rockets and Suns are teams interested too.
Thibs might not like it, but this deal works on the trade machine. Miami would get Butler and Dieng. Phoenix would get Dragic. Minnesota would get Bender and T.J. Warren from Phoenix and Kelly Olynyk from Miami. You could add in the 2022 draft pick Phoenix has from Miami.
Minnesota would also get Justice Winslow.
James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Dion Waiters and 2019 1st round pick for Butler and Dieng
No thank you. No Adebayo, no deal. Three players Miami wants to be rid of and provide no value to the Wolves. Johnson works as a second piece; Miami can unload whichever salary it wants to dump to make the deal work salary-wise. If Miami puts such a high value of Adebayo that they won’t deal him for Butler, then the Wolves wisely walked away.
I would do Justise or Bam if absolutely necessary, but not both. I wouldnt want to lose both James Johnson and Justise Winslow though, and if I’m including 1 of Winslow or Bam, I wouldnt want to include a draft pick, especially if still taking back Dieng, unless maybe Minnesota included Okogie or KBD in return
This is getting ridiculous. Just get a deal done, already.
@Arthur Hill or Luke Adams. Please read Kevin Durant article by Zach Lowe @Zach Lowe twitter. I love it. It’s at the top of his twitter.
Zach Lowe Twitter-What does Kevin Durant want? It’s long, but it’s the best article I’ve ever seen on Durant. I’ve follwed him since he was at the University of Texas.
I’m a Warriors fan and I read the whole article. It doesn’t say much we don’t already know and it doesn’t really give us a glimpse into the mind of Kevin Durant. It was a decent article, not great. I don’t know anymore about Durant than I didn’t before.
The only line that stood out for me was when he’s on the plane after one of the playoff games and told GM Bob Myers that he really felt part of a team like never before, right at that time.
So, great, he felt part of the team. I think we all knew he was happy with the Warriors and how everything worked before reading that article.
And we all know he probably won’t leave anytime soon but there’s a chance that he does. I’d say it’s 75-25 at this point staying a couple more years.
But wait, this post isn’t even about Durant and the Warriors? Oh well.
Thibs is just being a baby.
If Butler misses the first 30 days of the season, unless he has a surgery, he would lose his free agency next summer. I read Thibs is afraid to start the clock on the 30 days because he thinks Butler would have another surgery and it would diminish his trade value.
Butler and Dieng to Heat
Whiteside to Kings
Richardson, Cauley-Stein, and Shumpert to the Wolves
Why would the Kings do that? To take on Whiteside and give up WCS? They’d have to get unprotected 1st rounders from both teams to be worth that.
After all that work I did to bring them together.
Non-Guaranteed Contracts, recouping of salary, both coming to the NBA after this nonsense offseason.
Honestly given what the Spurs got for 1 year of Kawhi after a year he didn’t play at all, the Wolves shouldn’t take just any offer for Butler. But at some point they have to before he walks for nothing.
Butler gave up big money (super max deal) when he left Chicago the team that drafted him. As I understand it He now needs to play one more year with any team under his current contract to allow him to sign a larger max deal next year using his bird rights (3 years on one contract which is tradable) and I feel like that is also made larger by it being his 10th year in the league. However, he remains in Minnesota, or he is traded to another team with super max deals in place already that are eating up cap space Butler would again lose out on potential earnings. So playing along side Towns and Wiggins for less money then they are being paid (super max deals) was never going to fly with Butler. If minnesota refuses to trade him and he refuses to resign or pick up his player option next season he will stand to lose even more money on a new contract with a new team because he would forfeit his bird rights. So minnesota is banking on the idea that they don’t have to trade him for nothing because he pretty much has to resign with any team he is traded to if he wants to cash in on the bird right clause. Other teams don’t feel as confident about Butlers “compulsion” to sign for the most money possible and therefore balk at the price of a potential one year rental who can walk at the seasons end. That is why a team like Miami who is a preferred Butler destination feels better about offering a larger package because they have a perceived advantage because he may be willing to be more than a one year rental. However, the risk of him walking is a risk for any team and Minnesota must be okay with Butler screwing himself over by walking away at seasons end so this is the reason all trade talk has broken down. Worst case scenario Butler has surgery and picks up his player option next season and this drama carries on until he is traded next year. Best case scenario Thibs is fired and the wolves take the best offer on the table. But no quick resolution appears in sight.